Located on Alder Street in the heart of downtown Portland, the newly opened Woodlark hotel is an oasis in the busy city. The property is a fusion of two buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Cornelius Hotel, nicknamed the “House of Welcome,” and the Woodlark Building, one of the city’s earliest skyscrapers.

While the unity candle ceremony, in which a couple lights a large pillar candle using two lit tapers, will always remain a classic wedding tradition to symbolize the joining of two lives, many couples are changing things up.